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Marine Order 71 (Masters and deck officers) (MO71) is issued under the Navigation Act 2012 and provides for the following:
In May 2022 AMSA commenced the MO71 review, primarily to address the following:
The commercial vessel industry has diverse interests, business models and widespread geographic distribution. These elements need to be considered when developing new and amended regulations and standards.
Therefore, consultation plays a critical role in the development of robust and fit for purpose regulation.
Consultation also plays an important role to ensure safety standards and regulations adequately and appropriately address risks associated with commercial vessel operations and the impact of changes on other sectors.
To facilitate industry input AMSA established a public consultation process, requesting the public to comment on the revised draft order through a period of 8 weeks.
| Activity | Received | Confidential | Public |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Consultation | 6 | 5 | 1 |
Public consultation on the MO71 took place between 29 March and 24 May 2023, where a copy of the draft Marine Order was placed on AMSA’s website. Around 150 stakeholders were also contacted by email and invited to comment. These included seafarer representative organisations, vessel operators, shipping industry peak bodies and relevant government agencies inviting them to comment.
The review was also advised on social media and via the April edition of ‘AMSA update’ which is a newsletter with a distribution of around 27,000 people.
AMSA received six submissions during the external consultation period, largely giving opinions, general comments, and general recommendations for improvement, not requiring any significant changes to the draft order. One late submission was received after the consultation was closed, which was also taken into consideration.
During the process of reviewing the feedback from industry, AMSA identified four key issues and worked through them to find proposed solutions to the issues raised by industry. These issues and solutions adopted are outlined below.
Key issue 1: Provide a reduction to the sea service required to obtain certificates
Industry wants the sea service requirement minimised.
AMSA retained the current sea service requirements and will look at sea service requirements holistically for all certificates in the future. AMSA is also closely monitoring the comprehensive review of the STCW Convention and Code, which may include changes to sea service.
Key issue 2: Removal of Master <24 m (Foreign Going) certificate of competency
Industry is concerned about, why issuing a Master <24 m (FG) certificate is removed.
AMSA decided to remove this certificate as only one certificate has been issued and that was in 2016. There is no necessity for this certificate as other available certificates are sufficient to adequately crew commercial vessels.
Key issue 3: Able Seafarer as a pathway to obtaining a Deck Watchkeeper certificate
Industry wanted Able Seafarer - Deck, in addition to Integrating Rating, included as a pathway to obtain a Watchkeeper Deck certificate.
AMSA decided to include Able Seafarer - Deck as a pathway to obtain a Watchkeeper Deck certificate.
Key issue 4: ECDIS training on vessels equipped with ECDIS
Industry was uncertain about ECDIS training requirements for seafarers operating on vessels equipped with ECDIS and how ‘ECDIS trained’ is reflected on seafarer certificates.
AMSA improved the wording on the revised marine order making it very clear that ECDIS training is required if a seafarer is operating on a vessel equipped with ECDIS. AMSA will further look at information on the website to identify areas for improvement on this.
Some of the respondents opted to provide general feedback providing general observations and making recommendations on how AMSA can further improve. AMSA will take this feedback on board for continuous improvement.
The new Marine Order 71 (Masters and deck officers) 2023 will commence on 1 July 2024.
It includes the content that was previously contained in Marine Order 71 (Masters and deck officers) 2014 with the following main changes:
AMSA will update the guidance material on the website to reflect the changes in the revised marine order by 1 July 2024 and further clarify as required.
For guidelines please visit Guidance—international certificates on our website.
If you require further information, please contact AMSA Connect.
We are excited to sponsor the 47th Interferry conference, this year being held in Hobart from 4-8 November. Interferry is the longest running international event devoted to the ferry industry.
It focusses on issues that are important to both large and small operators within the ferry industry.
Date: 4-8 November 2023
Location: Hobart, Tasmania
We will talk about changes to Marine Order 504. This includes information on risk assessments, crewing and safety management systems.
Date: Wednesday 2 August 2023
Time: 10am
Duration: Approx. 2 hours
Location: Whitsunday Sailing Club Lecture Room
We encourage owners, masters and crew to attend. It is an opportunity to learn about the recent changes, ask questions and talk with AMSA staff on this and other marine safety issues.
Call our Airlie Beach AMSA office, 07 3001 6862 for more information.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Want more information on the changes to MO 504? Read through all the details on our campaign hub, Revised Marine Order 504, Changes to operational safety requirements from 1 August 2023.
AMSA is proud to sponsor the annual conference of MLAANZ, to be held in Perth from 4-6 October. AMSA’s Executive Director Response, Mark Morrow, will talk about his role as Australia’s Maritime Emergency Response Commander (MERCOM).
MLAANZ is an association of more than 500 members from Australia and New Zealand and several other countries. Its members include lawyers and judges, academics, representatives of major exporters, shipping companies, port operators, ship, cargo and liability insurers and government and defence force representatives.
MLAANZ was established in 1974 with the goals of:
Date: 4-6 October 2023
Location: Perth, WA
AMSA is sponsoring the 2023 Shellfish Futures Conference, organised by Oysters Tasmania, the peak body for Tasmanian shellfish growers and hatcheries.
The Tasmanian shellfish industry produces more than 36 million Pacific Oysters each year and is a major contributor to the Tasmanian economy.
The conference will see farmers, vessel owners and operators and other industry stakeholders come together to discuss current issues in the sector.
Date: 7-8 September 2023
Location: Smithton, Tasmania
This week, Minister Catherine King and Australia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Stephen Smith, welcomed the opportunity to discuss Australia’s environmental, safety and seafarer welfare interests with International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Secretary General Kitack Lim, with Secretary General Lim commending Australia’s strong leadership role as an active member of the IMO’s governing Council.
There were 82 reported incidents involving domestic commercial vessels in June.